Welcome to the SP Roundup, my daily fantasy baseball article reviewing every starting pitcher’s performance from every Monday game. I apologize for the jokes written in my delirium in advance. Have questions? Ask me during my office hours on Playback.tv weekday mornings from 10 am-12 pm ET.
Grant Holmes (ATL) @ TOR (W) – 7.2 IP, 3 ER, 2 Hits, 2 BBs, 4 Ks – 9 Whiffs, 27% CSW, 94 pitches.
He’s not allowed to go over five innings. There’s nothing special about him. I want to drop him. Yada yada yada. This was after two starts of Grant Holmes, after dealing with the Dodgers and Phillies, including his last outing where he threw four innings on over 100 pitches. Many people were skeptical of his Top 50 ranking on The List today and all I can say is THANK YOU GRANT. You had an opportunity tonight to set the record straight in Toronto and you put down your foot via 7.2 IP, 3 ER, 2 Hits, 2 BBs, 4 Ks – 9 Whiffs, 27% CSW, 94 pitches. He nearly made it through eight with just a solo shot to his name, but was pulled with runners on second and third and Bummer allowed a double. IT’S NOT FAIR.
Why have I believed in Holmes and was this start really any different? Yes and no. His four-seamer command wasn’t incredibly impressive unlike his last outing, but he earned a ton of strikes and mixed it well with cutters to keep batters off balance. The slider and curve didn’t miss as many bats as we saw last season (especially the curve, which was hung aplenty to LHB), but they’re still solid pitches and I’m inclined to believe their whiffability is still there – they have 2-3 inches more drop this year, after all.
It helps to not have an elite offense stepping into the box, too. Sure, Koufax played his part, but Holmes has enough in the tank to earn six frames on any given night and I’d expect more strikeouts moving forward with his trio of secondaries backing up a strike-heavy fastball. His 2024 wasn’t a fluke and it’s far more likely that his start to 2025 was a little wonky due to his extra rest and opponents.
We’re obviously holding onto Holmes. That new cutter is clearly helping his middling four-seamer avoid damage and I still believe in the slider and curve. He’s in a great situation for a team with a strong offense (or at least should be strong) and they will allow him to hover around 100 pitches each game. This Real Estate Broker is creating your dream Holmes.
Let’s see how every other SP did Monday:
Sonny Gray (STL) vs HOU (W) – 7.0 IP, 0 ER, 3 Hits, 1 BBs, 4 Ks – 6 Whiffs, 21% CSW, 92 pitches.
The velocity is 91 mph (not 92 mph), but I’ve kinda given up on that and I’m surprised to see such success despite 4% CSW on the sweeper. Then again, everything else was effective and that’s the story with Sonny. He has so many weapons that he usually can adapt to find a way. Maybe I should give him more love.
Tarik Skubal (DET) @ MIL (W) – 7.0 IP, 0 ER, 4 Hits, 0 BBs, 9 Ks – 16 Whiffs, 31% CSW, 91 pitches.
Aces gonna ace. Remember how worried y’all were after his first two starts?
Dustin May (LAD) vs COL (W) – 6.0 IP, 1 ER, 3 Hits, 0 BBs, 7 Ks – 14 Whiffs, 36% CSW, 76 pitches.
Ayyyy, we had strikeouts! Whiffs! Six full innings! And it’s all thanks to…Rockie Road. I mean, he pitched super well, but the matchup helped a lot here. Regardless, May is doing the things we want him to do (outside of throwing hard as he’s sitting 94 mph, but that’s apparently by design to preserve his health) and let’s all be glad we were able to snatch him in the final rounds of our drafts. You did draft May, right? Right?!
Paul Skenes (PIT) vs WSN (W) – 6.0 IP, 1 ER, 3 Hits, 0 BBs, 6 Ks – 10 Whiffs, 29% CSW, 99 pitches.
Aces gonna ace. A little strange to see just four whiffs on everything but four-seamers, but Skenes got there. The splinker wasn’t as devastating as we’ve seen at just 1/15 whiffs here and you have to ask: Is Skenes mortal?
Shane Baz (TBR) vs BOS (W) – 6.0 IP, 1 ER, 2 Hits, 0 BBs, 11 Ks – 17 Whiffs, 36% CSW, 98 pitches.
Pfffft alright, I get it Baz. I should have put you higher on The List. I just wanted to see the four-seamer dominate a little more, okay? Sitting 97/98 mph with 1.4 HAVAA and 80% strikes?! I GET IT. Pretty cool to see the changeup go 6/20 whiffs as well, but I have to be that guy and tell y’all how poor the Red Sox offense has looked as of late. JUST SAYING. But yeah, Baz looks Top 30. Easily.
Jameson Taillon (CHC) @ SDP (ND) – 5.1 IP, 2 ER, 3 Hits, 1 BBs, 4 Ks – 10 Whiffs, 31% CSW, 89 pitches.
Atta boy Taillon! The sweeper was the key against RHB (42% usage!) and you nibbled with curves and changeups to LHB to find a way around them. I’m glad you’re helping as a Toby to many teams and I’m sorry I doubted you. So you’re starting me against the Sneks? Well, about that…YOU PROMISED!
Joe Ryan (MIN) vs NYM (ND) – 5.0 IP, 1 ER, 3 Hits, 2 BBs, 8 Ks – 16 Whiffs, 32% CSW, 101 pitches.
Aces gonna ace. I’m glad you can still dominate a game with your four-seamer and look at that! 93% sweeper strikes with 7/14 whiffs! YOU GOT HELP! Now go pick up the splitter that held a 28% strike rate. Maybe throw them an Alka-Seltzer or something.
Clay Holmes (NYM) @ MIN (W) – 5.0 IP, 1 ER, 2 Hits, 2 BBs, 8 Ks – 12 Whiffs, 27% CSW, 90 pitches.
The Adobe was able to find strikes with both his sinker and changeup and leaned on the pair heavily as he struggled with his slider and cutter (we’re talking 6/19 strikes between them). I really wish we could get a start where he’s firing on all cylinders, you know?
Carlos Carrasco (NYY) vs KCR (W) – 5.0 IP, 1 ER, 1 Hits, 2 BBs, 4 Ks – 10 Whiffs, 29% CSW, 79 pitches.
You wanted a cheap Win, YOU GOT A CHEAP WIN. We all knew it was in you, Cookie, enjoy this Gold Star. Maybe you can do it a second time against the Rays…? Don’t get greedy. Fine, Koufax, fine.
Dylan Cease (SDP) vs CHC (ND) – 5.2 IP, 2 ER, 7 Hits, 1 BBs, 6 Ks – 14 Whiffs, 25% CSW, 96 pitches.
Oh look, just three changeups this time with two wildly missing and the other down the pipe and punished. His LHB approach is rough once again, while he destroys RHB. Oh Cease, you’re just you, aren’t you? No, I’m not summoning Darvish, stop asking.
Antonio Senzatela (COL) @ LAD (L) – 4.1 IP, 4 ER, 9 Hits, 1 BBs, 1 Ks – 7 Whiffs, 24% CSW, 91 pitches.
Senz-A with the HAISTBMBWT?! against the Dodgers and actually performing in line with expectations?! Whoa. Thanks, I guess?
Seth Lugo (KCR) @ NYY (L) – 6.2 IP, 4 ER, 7 Hits, 2 BBs, 4 Ks – 9 Whiffs, 28% CSW, 98 pitches.
Four solo shots, three in the fifth. That’s just how it goes some days. We carry on.
Taijuan Walker (PHI) vs SFG (L) – 5.0 IP, 4 ER, 6 Hits, 1 BBs, 5 Ks – 10 Whiffs, 35% CSW, 99 pitches.
You thought you could stream this? It’s Taijuan, y’all. WHEN WILL YOU LEARN?!
Landen Roupp (SFG) @ PHI (W) – 5.0 IP, 4 ER, 6 Hits, 3 BBs, 8 Ks – 20 Whiffs, 38% CSW, 101 pitches.
Funny this was against the Phillies as Nola surely watched Roupp’s outing and thought “hey, that’s my curveball.” Roupp’s hook went 15/56 whiffs (yes, 55% curveball usage) for 43% CSW, leading the charge toward a Golden Goal and it truly was a disgusting pitch. Unfortunately, the sinker held a sub 60% strike rate, and the changeup and cutter had moments but were overall not what they needed to be. He’s so close. You see the strikeout rate. You see the filth. You see the pitch count. Just a few more starts and Roupp will be the guy you want everywhere. You better hold like you’re on the phone canceling your Comcast cable subscription.
Brad Lord (WSN) @ PIT (L) – 4.1 IP, 4 ER, 6 Hits, 3 BBs, 1 Ks – 3 Whiffs, 12% CSW, 57 pitches.
No, Lord was not royal. Duh, he doesn’t play in Kansas City.
Tyler Alexander (MIL) vs DET (L) – 4.0 IP, 4 ER, 6 Hits, 3 BBs, 2 Ks – 5 Whiffs, 17% CSW, 81 pitches.
T-Lex is just trying to take advantage of his time in the rotation and he couldn’t open up the jaws of his arsenal, leading to cutters, sinkers, four-seamers, and changeups all hovering y-mLoc. Is that vertical or horizontal middle? It’s thigh-high across the plate. Soooo. What does vertical middle mean to you? It’s middle, vertically. So going straight up or a line horizontally? Uhhhhh THIS IS HARD. I cannot begin to tell you the number of debates I’ve had with people about x-mLoc vs. y-mLoc nomenclature. The middle of the Y Axis = a horizontal line from outside to inside. The middle of the X axis = a Vertical line from the top of the zone to the bottom. That makes the most sense to me, join me on the morning stream to tell me how wrong I am.
Framber Valdez (HOU) @ STL (L) – 4.0 IP, 6 ER, 10 Hits, 1 BBs, 3 Ks – 7 Whiffs, 18% CSW, 89 pitches.
Framber. You’re going to do this to me again, aren’t you? You’re going to have yourself a terrible stretch and cause me to drop you a ton on The List only to hit a massive hot streak down the stretch and look like everything was fine for the entire year. Why are you the way you are?
Easton Lucas (TOR) vs ATL (L) – 5.0 IP, 8 ER, 6 Hits, 4 BBs, 3 Ks – 7 Whiffs, 21% CSW, 87 pitches.
Womp womp. That was a fun idea. The four-seamer was still interesting at 94 mph and 17″ of vert from the left side, but the rest of it? Absolutely not. He couldn’t figure out how to handle LHB, either, and it’s not feeling great, even with the Mariners up next. It could work fine, but it’s not @TEA. Why risk it?
Tanner Houck (BOS) @ TBR (L) – 2.1 IP, 11 ER, 10 Hits, 2 BBs, 1 Ks – 9 Whiffs, 25% CSW, 61 pitches.
Annnnd there it is. Sigh. I was hoping the previous games were displays of Houck keeping it together and eventually putting it back together, not delaying the inevitable destruction at the hands of the Rays. You may feel wrong for rage-dropping him, but some of you may have already done so before this outing after we’ve seen the warning signs. I hope you didn’t get bamboozled today, I certainly expected this to be somewhat decent and not…this.
Game of the Day
Justin Verlander vs. Jesús Luzardo – Verlander just had 20 whiffs and Luzardo has been on fire.
But Nick?! Where are the streaming picks? – I’ve moved them to the daily SP Matchups & Streamer Rankings article.
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Featured image by Justin Paradis (@JustParaDesigns on Twitter)
Not great, really wanted Easton Lucas to be an RP eligible waiver darling. The fastball still looks legit but none of the other pitches were dialed in. Looked like he was fairly easily flustered. Guess the hope is he settles in and commands the secondary pitches better.